Augusta Recap

I meant to post these pictures a month ago. We haven't lived in Augusta since the beginning of August so the timing of this post seems a bit overdue.

I must preface these pictures by admitting that Augusta is not the most beautiful place in the world. In fact, it's downright ghetto, dirty and a bit unsafe (no one from Augusta reads this blog right? If so, you have a lovely town). It wasn't until we had lived in Augusta for several months that we discovered the town's nickname: Disgusta. It seems fitting...at times. However, much like blogging, I would like to share only the pretty-put-together parts of Augusta slash my life. It's much more glamorous to post pictures of cathedrals and riverwalks than it is to post pictures of decay and homeless people sleeping on your porch (seriously) -- or maybe I'm just not skilled enough artistically to make those things seem mod and cool.

These were the sites and events that I enjoyed most about living in Augusta (beware of the photo party that ensues):

The church with the red door:






Every time I walked past this Episcopal church, I mentally complimented their artistic use of color and the attention paid to the overall look of their building. Then it occurred to me that maybe the red door was actually some Passover related statement and not a fashion-forward religious move. I like to think it's both.

The church with the blue stairs:




Maybe this is some type of flood statement? I'm not sure. This church also has a graveyard with all their former pastors buried in the front yard. Again, I suppose I'm just not talented enough to make that seem cool (and not weird) in pictures.

First Friday:


Apparently lots of places in The South hold a First Friday -- which is essentially what it sounds like. On the first Friday of every month, a downtown festival is held and lots of artists, musicians and street vendors are out and about until an ungodly hour of the night. The above picture shows my favorite performers: the Gothic Firedancers. These people hula-hooped with fire, ate fire, breathed fire and interpretive danced with fire all to the lovely accompaniment of heavy metal music. It was really weird. But I think I always returned to their show because of their weirdness. And the fact that I thought somebody might get burned.

Kids Getting Owned by the Water Fountain at the Farmer's Market:


Children would seriously try to sit on this geyser. Enough said.

Abandoned Sites:




Augusta is something of an abandoned city. Many shops are closed down and a large number of the buildings are uninhabited. At night, that's really scary, but during the day, it gives an artistic vibe to many of the streets and shops. Andrew would always say, "nature is eating this town alive." It just might be.

Social Events:






The city of Augusta must be run by a woman because every weekend the city boasts some type of social gathering. The event pictured above was called "Thunder Over Augusta," which was a military-like celebration where people mostly watched motorcyclists perform lots of flips and turns dangerously high in the air. Obviously you can see how the military and motorcycles are related. And how closely thunder is also related to the military and motorcycles. Right?

Thus, I have picturesquely summed up my experiences in Augusta -- in a phrase: brightly painted fire-dancing kids at abandoned motorcycle festivals.

The end.